Brig. Gen. Sir Edward Spears, a foremost critic of Zionism and supporter of Arab claims against the Jews in Israel, called on the Zionist movement today to renounce officially the “Biltmore Program” as a measure to alley Arab fears of Jewish expansionism.
The Biltmore Program was adopted at a convention of Zionist leaders at the Biltmore Hotel in New York in 1942 and was addressed by Dr. Chaim Weizmann and David Ben Gurion. It provided for the establishment of a Jewish Commonwealth in all of Palestine as the postwar aim of the Zionist movement.
In a letter to the London Times, Gen. Spears, former British High commissioner in Syria, asserted that the Arabs expect the cry of “more living space for the Jews” to arise again. He warned that while fears of Israeli expansion exist, there can be no peace in the Middle East. Referring to the programs of some Zionist groups as still claiming all of Palestine and Transjordan, Gen. Spears asked: “Are the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency prepared to declare publicly that they have abandoned this part of the Biltmore program?”
The Tel Aviv correspondent of the London Times says in an article that Israel is “a lonely little country” which is preoccupied mainly with its own defense because “the battlefronts have been silenced by armistice agreements, but all over the Middle East Arabs can be found who dream schemes of revenge.” Even moderate Arab leaders refuse to negotiate peace with Israel and to become partners in an alliance of which Israel is a member, he reports.
Reviewing the internal conditions of life in Israel, the correspondent acknowledges that the Jewish state emerged from the first year of its existence as “a robust young democracy.” However, he says that economic difficulties, especially a financial slump in the United States, could bankrupt Israel. He adds that anti-British feelings still prevail among Jews in Israel. “This hatred, often vicious, insidious and venomous, shows no sign of abatement,” he states.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
